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Is The New Mars Triple Choc Limited Edition A Healthy Treat?

4 October 2011 - 6:37pm | snicksnack

Mars have launched a new version of the trusty Mars Bar, with chocolate caramel and nougat making up the Mars Triple Choc. So how does it compare to a normal Mars Bar, and could it ever be considered a healthy treat?

First and foremost, there are less calories in the limited edition version, with 233 compared to 269 in a standard Mars Bar. This works out to be 11.7% of the GDA (based upon daily requirement of 2000 calories). That's not too bad, but be careful, for the average child the Triple Choc makes up a fifth of their daily energy requirement.

The most important thing is that it tastes good. The chocolate caramel revitalises the old Mars Bar taste and the nougat blends in well. The bar is a very pleasant experience. The chocolate is thicker than normal and this really adds to the sickly sensation. Certainly more suited for people with the sweeter tooth.

As with the Mars Bar, there are no really worrying ingredients, but the presence of sugar as the number 1 ingredient always worries me a little. In fact, the sugar content makes up 41% of the GDA for an adult, which equates to a lofty 68% for the average child.

Moving on, the fat content is also very high. In particular, the bar makes up a fifth of the average GDA of saturated fats.

All of these things considered, the Mars Triple Choc scored 8 on the SNR (What's this?) compared to the better value of 17 for the normal Mars Bar. With the calorie count coming in lower, this shows the fat level and sugar levels are particularly high.

A tasty treat, but one that we'd recommend you keep away from your children's lunchbox.